Oneiric

Today was colder than the day before, the chill penetrated my thin layers of clothing, making my nipples hard. A thick blanket of clouds covered the sky throwing a gray and boring light upon everything. It must have rained during the night, but it must have been calm, as I didn’t hear thunder, nor have I seen lightning. Nevertheless, the puddles did not have time to evaporate, which was not a good thing... for passers-by.

The short distance from the metro station to the university was a challenge today because the building and its entrance are situated via the boulevard. And there are puddles between the pavement and the road. And you know how some drivers can be: some are actually unintentional, others are mean and splash you. I, however, was lucky to have made it safe and dry.  I found a seat in the seminar-room and took out a sketching book and continued drawing some abstract circles, and symbols I invent on the spot. 

I always liked drawing as a child and would sometimes sit at my desk, drawing and playing while inventing stuff on paper. I have inherited the talent from my dad, for he too loved to draw and paint in his free time. My view rose from my sketch to the entrance, when I saw an angry and very wet Lavinia coming in, approaching the empty seat next to me.

“I was just about to pass the final puddle when all of a sudden Alex drove right through it with his car and splashed me! Fucking idiot!”, said Lavinia furiously.

“I have some paper tissues if you’d like”, I offered.

“No, it’s okay. I will go to the restroom and try to salvage what’s left of my look for today.”, she replied, then went away to go freshen up, after putting her bag on the chair.

As Lavinia left the room, Alex entered, together with another colleague. He was talking and smiling as if nothing had happened. Alex was sharing Sociology with us. I don’t know why Law students need to study it, but they were. 

He was a rich, annoying brat of a guy. He had a boyish face and a gym body, for his pecs rose out of his chest like two hills. He was as tall as me, thin and not very hairy on his arms. He was too self-involved to ever catch my attention. 

Other girls didn’t seem to be bothered by his personality. Today he was looking better than I had noticed. The bulge in his jeans was kind of obvious, as they were super skinny, and beautifully hugged his muscled legs. He occupied a seat by leaving his jacket and backpack, then told his colleagues who hung out with him to watch his stuff, as he needed to take a piss.

When he went out I got the chance to stare at his ass. That bubble butt was asking for a punding.

My phone buzzed; it was Lavinia.

“Claudius, can you help me with something?”

“What happened?”

“I need something, from my bag”

“Oh, do you need me to bring it to you?”, I really hoped she would say yes, as I didn’t want to scout for tampons or other womanly stuff in that black hole of a bag of hers.

“Yes, bring the bag. Thanks!”

“I’ll text right before I arrive at the Ladies’ room.”

“Great!”

I took the bag and went to the rest-rooms. They were pretty far on this floor. You had to walk quite a distance. God forbid you had an urgency and needed to reach them faster. As I was approaching, I heard arguing, as if a couple was fighting. I didn’t text Lavinia, as the voice was hers. Then I heard Alex as well. I stopped right at the corner to listen.

“Come on doll, don’t be angry with me.”

“How can I not be angry, when you splashed me? Intentionally!”

“Come on babe, don’t you know a joke when you see one?”

“A joke implies both parties laughing about it. Not one laughing at the other’s misfortune!”

“If you say so. It was pretty funny though. And you should thank me!”

“Thank you for what? For fucking ruining my day?”

“Thank me for highlighting those boobs of yours. The way your shirt sticks to them is hot.”

“Are you… are you trying to joke again? Or was that flirting?

“Believe what you want. Go out with me. I know some fancy places; you’d like them.

“You’re a fucking jerk. I don’t care about you, and your fancy locales. The answer’s no!”

“Come on. Give me a smooch and maybe you’ll change your mind.”

I didn’t wait for her to answer that invitation. Clearly, she wouldn’t do it. Turning around the corner, I hastened to reach the two, who were standing at the entrance of the Women’s room. As I approached, I saw Alex holding one hand on the wall, blocking Lavinia from exiting. I also saw some colored flickering in Lavinia’s fingers. Like some sort of magic dust.

“Lavinia, I brought your bag”, her look told me that she knew I saw her fingers.

“Put down your hand so I can pass, Alex”, she said, while grabbing the young man’s arm and pulling it down. Then she came towards me, took the bag, thanked me, and said she’ll see me in class.

“Way to go cock-block. Why did you have to ruin my game, loner?”

“I didn’t ruin anything Alex. She was not playing along”

“What do you know? Faggot?”

“I know that much, that a girl isn’t interested in your petty tries to seduce her. Harasser!”

“What did you just call me?”, he asked then came towards me. Close. Too close.

He was staring into my eyes, trying to intimidate me. It didn’t work. I was not afraid of him. I was not a trouble seeker. But if you hit me, I would hit back. He repeated the question, quietly this time, the words coming through his teeth. He was in the mood for fighting.

“Say it again, faggot. I dare you, or…”

“Or what?”, I replied, not impressed by his aggressiveness.

“I swear to God I will do it!”, his face squirmed.

“What do you want to do?”

Then it happened. I felt the warmth again, and I could sense a smell, this time it was of musk and lime. It was coming from Alex. A dark-gray mist engulfed both of us and the background started to fade away. The neon lights above us flickered. I could see my reflection in his eyes. I could see a glow in his eyes. But it was not coming from him. It was coming… from my eyes.

“I will fucking do it”, cried Alex, almost whispering. He seemed angry, but not because of our argument. It was something else.

“Do it! You know you want to”, I said, only for our ears to hear it.

“I can’t! I shouldn’t!”, replied Alex, frustrated.

“But you do. You want to. It will make you feel better”, I said, as if I was trying to seduce him, unwillingly.

“Shut up! I’m not gay. I…”

“Do it! I know you want to”

It was as if I was another person. I didn’t want to force him to do anything. I just felt a desire inside him. I felt that I knew what he wanted before he realized he actually wanted it. And I insisted for him to do it, but not out of malevolence. I felt his pain within his mind. I felt what held him back from doing something he didn’t know about himself. Or, something he didn’t want to accept.

“No”

“Do it.”

“I… don’t…I…”

“DO! IT!”

And then he did. His left hand grabbed me by my waist, his right arm rested between my shoulder blades. He was already close to me, but he got even closer, slowly shutting his eyes and tilting his head. He paused within an inch of my lips. I could feel his warm breath. Then he kissed me. He continued to kiss me as I responded to his lips, to his tongue. He closed the gap between our bodies, pressing his chest into my chest. I could feel his hard dick pressing against my hard dick. I gasped when they touched and my dick pulsated as he did the same. I could feel it.

While still kissing, I put my hand on the bulge of his jeans and ran my fingers on the length of his rod, slowly. As I was doing this, I knew I was dragging the pleasure out of him. When my fingers reached the tip of his cock, or so where I thought it would be, he came. He came, moaning in my mouth. In the end, I felt that his pain would heal, in time. I… I think I helped him accept his true self. Even if he didn’t know it, or didn’t want to know it. Everything returned to normal around us. However, Alex was still acting as if he’d been hypnotized. I heard a voice that made me freeze in place.

“Claudius! Claudius are you alright?”, asked Lavinia.

“I…It’s not what it looks like. I…”, I didn’t know what else to say. How long had she been there?

“Oh, I think it’s exactly what it seems.”

“I… him…we just…”, I was a little shocked.

“Claudius. I don’t mind you being gay. But Alex? Who would have thought!?”, she replied, amused a little.

“I don’t know what to say. I don’t do this, publicly, with a person I barely know.”

“Well, first things first. Tell him to go.”

“Huh?”

“Tell him to go piss. He’ll be fine”

“Alex. Alex! Go to the bathroom. Clean yourself. Wash your face with cold water", I said while looking at him as he entered the Men’s room. Good thing he wore black jeans, otherwise the wet cum would be clearly visible near his crotch.

“Now, I know you saw my magic. But I never have guessed you were magical as well”, said Lavinia, almost excited.

“Wait. What magic? I have no magic. There is no magic!”, I tried to explain. Nothing happened. He just kissed me and kind of came afterward. From all the commotion. It can happen.

“You don’t know, do you? You have never done this”, she was beginning to get very excited by this. And it scared me a little.

“Do what? Kiss a guy and make him cum?”, I asked.

“No silly!”

“I’m sorry but I don’t understand. How long have you been watching us?”

“When I got to class, the professor had already arrived. But you two were still missing. After some time, I thought something might have gone wrong. Between Alex and yourself. So, I excused myself to go to the bathroom. When I almost reached the corner, I heard your voice saying ‘DO IT!’. When I turned around the corner, I saw the two of you, engulfed in magic mist, kissing.”

“So, it’s not in my head. It is actually happening in reality.”

“It was beautiful to witness”, she tried to calm me down.

“What if I hurt him instead?”, I asked, being a little worried about this newfound…skill of mine.

“I think he’ll be ok. He seemed to have released something that resided inside, and you helped him do it”, she said, not being able to hold a giggle.

“I…”

“I’m talking about his feelings. He was probably a repressed homosexual. Probably mommy or daddy issues at home, or a homophobic environment. But somehow you helped him overcome his fear of actually being gay and helped him cope with the pain.”

“I would love to talk about this power of yours. But we have to return to the seminar.”

“Alright. You’re right. Let’s go”, I said.

I feel that I can trust her, especially now that she came out as a witch and discovered that I had some kind of magic too. We could both act as ourselves now that we knew the truth.

The rest of the day had gone by, uninterrupted by any more special events. Alex seemed to not remember what had happened between us. But he looked changed. He actually came to Lavinia and apologized for his attitude. It seems that a burden had been lifted from his chest and that he might be on a road, which suits him better than the previous one.

The last class was a total bore. I had wished something extraordinary would occur, to liven the slow passing of time. But nothing happened, as the neuro-psycho-physiology professor was giving her lecture. One hour had gone by painfully slow, still another hour to go. My colleagues weren’t paying attention anymore. They were either reading other books underneath the benches or gazing into their phones. Some were playing tic tac toe, others were staring at the sky, through the tall windows. 

I was helping my mind cope by drawing and abstract design in my sketchbook; mostly circles and symbols. Lavinia was reading from a psychology magazine, and from time to time she would enchant my drawing, making the circles I drew, rotate, or even make the symbols levitate above the paper. The last ten minutes of the class went very slow as if each minute took ten minutes to pass. 

As the professor was nearing the end of her lecture, my colleagues began to agitate themselves, putting their books, papers, copybooks, and writing instruments in their bags and preparing to exit this time capsule.

“Was that a boring lecture or what?”, said Lavinia, happy it had ended.

“It’s filled with too much, unneeded information”, I replied.

“It should be taught to students who branch out, for example, to those specializing in Clinical psychology”, she suggested. "We don't need to learn about serotonin and the central nervous system. People in need of therapy don't care about hormones and chocolate. They need help to cope with their shit."

“Yes. I think it’s just a filler class, so people won’t complain they don’t study enough subjects”, I replied, although I did agree with her statement. 

“I would happily trade this class to study psychoanalysis”, Lavinia replied.

“We will study psychoanalysis, next year.”

“Oh, wow. I didn’t know that. Cool!", she said.

"Why do you like psychoanalysis that much?", I asked her while we walked outside.

"Because it acts as a layer remover therapy. I mean, a traumatic event that happened in the past was covered by the subconscious, thus resulting in detrimental behavior later in adulthood. Years pass and layers are placed on top of the event. The therapy uncovers each layer until it reaches that event."

"Yes, through anamnesis. But the procedure is rather tricky, as it might trigger negative responses from the patient. I would first become an expert before I mingle in that crowd.", I answered smiling at her. She knows her psychology. We would have lots to talk about.

Hey, do you want to hang out some more? I don’t want to go home just yet", she asked,

“What do you have in mind?”, I asked.

“I was thinking of going to a tea house. Would you fancy that?”

“Tea house? I would like to, yes!”, I couldn’t help my enthusiasm. I loved tea.

“There we can talk some more about my magic, and yours.”

“Tell me where it is situated, I can call a cab to drive us there”.

“There’s no need. It’s not that far away from here. If you don’t mind walking.”

“I don’t mind. Please, lead the way.”

I didn’t mind a walk. It was getting cooler as the sky darkened. It had rained all day, but now it stopped. The air was chilled and my jean jacket was not enough to keep me warm. Hands in my trouser pockets, I didn’t complain, however, I shivered in secrecy. Almost like a true stoic.

Lavinia had thought more when she dressed for today and had a wool sweater keeping her warm. We detoured among the small streets of the neighborhood with houses. As it was autumn, mid-October, the air was filled with the perfume of ripe grapes, from the vines that people grew in their gardens. Black grapes to be precise.

Author’s note: in Romania, people who live in houses (not apt. blocks), and who have gardens, usually grow a vine with dark or white grapes. When they are ripe, they are gathered and squeezed to make juice – we call it must. The grapes are crushed in a machine by two, cylinders, like cogs. Afterward, both the juice and the solids are stored in barrels. After a day, or two, the juice is separated into big glass bottles (demijohns) and left to ferment into wine. The crushed remains of the grapes are mixed with sugar, left to ferment, later to be made into alcohol, distilled alcohol.

The cold evening was in high contrast with the previous day, which had been warmer. Some houses even had smoke coming out of their chimneys. The mix of grapes and burnt wood made me think of winter. I liked winter. That feeling of cold, after a snowy day. When you return in the warmth of your home, your cheeks burning with cold, your clothes emanating an aura of cold air. But I liked autumn too. Most of the days being gray and cloudy. It’s like an invitation to stay inside, drink tea, read a book, draw, cook or even play computer games.

After a twenty-minute walk, we had finally reached the tea house. It was called “Ramayana”. The gates were open, the alley toward the house entrance was lit by lanterns. The whole building was painted in different colors. I thought it must look very gleeful in daylight. In the light of the lanterns, it had a mysterious vibe to it.

At the entrance was the reception, where two women were talking. Lavinia asked for a table for two, and one of the women lead us to our seats. We had to descend into the basement level of the building. We walked through a narrow hallway, then arrived in a tall room. The walls were pained red and orange. The small windows had the glass painted in green, yellow, purple, and blue. There were two coffee tables, opposite to one another, each having two big cushions as chairs. This will be a problem for my long legs, as I can’t quite sit in the yogin meditating position, both legs crossed. Wall lamps, dimmed, were throwing their light into the room.

On the ceiling, there were no lights, instead, from the center rained down curtains of red, blue, and purple, curving in the direction of the four corners of the room. The corners opposite to the ones with tables were decorated, one with a bookcase and the other with an ottoman and behind, with a vase with golden reeds in it. The wooden floor was an old parquet, which squeaked as we walked over it. In the center was a thin rug, with floral motifs.

The air was filled with the smells of tea and hookah. The hookah smelled just like the grapes outside. I loved everything about this tea house. After we were seated, the woman gave us the menus and told us to push the button on the table to summon her, for our orders.

“This place is beautiful. And cozy”, I was happy to be here. I felt home.

“I had a feeling you would like it”, said Lavinia.

“I am surprised I didn’t know about this before.”

“You should be”, Lavinia answered, smiling.

“Why is that?”

“Because only a magical person can find this house. It’s enchanted that way.”

“But you said you saw me doing magic. How come I haven’t found it before?”

“Maybe you didn’t use your magic that much, in order for it to emerge from yourself”

“I have never done this, so you are probably right”, I replied.

“So, what will you drink, Claudius?”

“I don’t know. Let’s see what teas they have”, as I opened the menu, the first tea which came to attention was the one called “rose tea”. I immediately chose that one. Lavinia was not so sure about her order.

“I chose mine. What will you get Lavinia?”

“I don’t know. I am looking at this jasmine green tea, however, this sweet mate sounds interesting.”

“Go for the second one.”

“If I won’t like it, we’ll have to switch”

“Fine with me. But I think you will like it.”

After pressing the button and having our orders taken, I excused myself to go to the restroom.

Returning from the bathroom, walking down the long, narrow hallway, I passed several rooms, some filled with people, others not so much. While nearing the final room before I had to turn around the corner, I slowed my pace.

It was quite dark inside, and although there were lights, they were even dimmer than the ones in our room. I could see there was someone inside, but only a dark silhouette. It appeared to be a man, or so I could tell. He was smoking a melon-flavored hookah; the charcoal above lit, like a dying ember, then a cascade of smoke poured forth, like a dragon breathing fire.

I didn’t notice I have stopped to stare into the room when a feeling of heaviness formed in my chest. But this time it was different. This time it was not pain. I did not know what it was. I swear I could hear whispers instead of the silent music, playing in the speakers, hung on the walls.

I felt warmth all over my body. I knew I was starting to do it again. This time, on myself. The mist started to pour out of the sleeves of my jacket. The weight of the feeling became somewhat unbearable. I think my eyes started to glow, because all of a sudden, I could better see in the darkness of the room.

There was a man indeed, alone. Dressed elegantly, drinking wine, by the looks of the glass, and smoking hookah. I don’t know how he could see in that gloom, but he was reading from a book. I made a step forward, the parquet squeaked and the stranger caught my gaze. I saw a faded red glimmer in his eyes and suddenly felt a cold touch caressing my face.

“Shit! Please excuse me”, I said before hurrying back to my room, where our teas had arrived.

“What took you so long?”, asked Lavinia while taking a sip from her sweet mate.

“I couldn’t find my way. This house is like a small labyrinth”, I lied.

“The first time it can happen to anyone. You were right.”

“Hm?”

“About the tea. I really love it.”

“Oh, I’m glad you do. I should taste mine”.

“How is it?”, she asked.

“Scented, flavorful, a little bitter, but kind of sweet.”

“So, you really didn’t know you had magic?”, asked Lavinia.

“No. Not at all. Did you know about your magic?”

“I have always known. It’s in my family. Both my parents have it, and their parents before them, and so on. When my brother and I started doing it, our parents were so happy.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yes. Iulian”, and she handed me her phone where she was standing next to a guy, somewhat taller than her. He was gorgeous.”

“He’s cute”, I replied without even noticing what I had just said.

“He’s older than me by one year. He’s an artist and likes to paint and design clothes.”

“Oh, beautiful and talented”, I don’t know what came over me.

“Hey, I have an idea! Next weekend he’s hosting a fashion presentation, to show his latest creations. Wouldn’t it be fun if you accompanied me?”

“I don’t know what to say. I haven’t been to such events. I don’t know how to behave, how to dress.”

“Oh, come on. Just say yes and I will take care of all the details!”, she practically begged.

“Very well. I will accompany you”, I couldn’t refuse those puppy eyes she made.

“Thank you! You’re the best Claudius!”, she jumped and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Didn’t your family have problems with performing magic, in the past?”, I was curious.

“They took caution, with the orthodox church being so exaggerated. Do you think your folks have magic?”

“I don’t know. I never got to know them too well. They died in a car crash when I was 4 years old. They didn’t want to return by plane, so they drove back. Someone had bumped into them on the highway and my father had lost control of the wheel. I was raised by my paternal grandparents until I was 18 when I decided to move on my own, as I inherited what my parents had left me.”

As the minutes passed by, we talked about our lives, about magic, and about the future. It was late when we left Ramayana. So, I called a cab, first took Lavinia home, then instructed the man to take me home as well.